Sleeping pills?

Hello. I am wondering if anyone here has had to turn to sleeping pills for insomnia? I really don't want sleeping pills, I hate adding more meds to my regimen, especially those that can have bad side affects but at this point I don't see another option.

My insomnia has gotten very bad. If I'm lucky I sleep a couple hours a night. I was previously only able to sleep during the day but my lifestyle doesn't allow that so I've done my best to get back on normal hours, but I wake up a couple hours after falling asleep and can't go back to sleep.

I feel like I've tried everything. The only reason I've been able to hang on this long with the insomnia is because I was taking Xanax (low dose) every night to fall asleep, but I've been on it for a long time and my doctor won't write a prescription for any more (which is probably for the best, I don't want to get addicted).

I've tried just taking GABA but it doesn't make the slightest difference for me. I swear my body only responds to actual pharmaceutical drugs. I've tried a million other things too with no result. My body just needs sleep at this point, any way I can get it.

The insomnia is probably rooted from Lyme or adrenal fatigue with off cortisol, but those are huge issues that won't resolve overnight and in the mean time I can't just not sleep.

Has anyone had insomnia like this? I'm afraid to try sleeping pills because quite honestly they kind of scare me (I feel like they can't be good for your brain, hopefully I'm wrong) but I don't know what else to do!!!

On my most difficult nights I took a capful of children's liquid benadryl.

I am pretty sensitive to meds so I had to use the children's dose. I like the liquid because I had more control over the dosage than the pill form.

Oh gosh. I SO feel your pain. I didn't sleep for about 5 years. Maybe 2 hours a night like you. That's when I think the Lyme really started ravaging my body. If you can't sleep you can't heal. I had tried everything. So I went to my GP once who gave me 10 Extened release Ambien. I used the 10 in a month and they were magic!! The first night I woke up and thought, " great, here we go again!" But looked at the clock and it was 7 am. I hadn't budged all night. This was before I knew I had Lyme. And the GP wouldn't prescribe any more, which I understand.

When I was finally diagnosed in 2015 my LLMD put me on Clonazepam. I am totally crunchy so that was a HUGE step for me and I hate that I take take it.

BBuuuutt, I also feel it has helped me start to heal on this journey. My LLMD says it's the only thing that gets his patients to sleep and to stage 3&4 sleep. And I don't take that much and only for sleep. Last year, I wanted to to try to wean slowly off and the doc recommended 5-htp supplement which actually really helped! But I had to stop taking that because it interfered with the pain med I was taking. So that would be my go to sleep natural supplement if I wasn't taking the RX. Also you shouldn't take it if you're on an antidepressant. But I was amazed and it helped with depression too.

My heart really goes out to you. It's literally a waking nightmare when you can't sleep. The world stops and it's all you think about and you can't function. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

But it's not forever, and I have resigned myself to the fact that, yeah I have to take this right now, but I also eat well, am taking my herbs, detoxing, and trying to beat this beast. So if I can finally sleep than so be it. I can't, with everything else, beat myself up about it. And when it's time to wean off I will cross that bridge.

I hope you find something that helps! And finally get to sleep!

Maybe you can get some ideas of what to try by others listing what they use, and by doing a forum search to find more posts. We have a lot of posts on this subject!

I have used trazodone and ambien, but I don't encourage their use as they are quite addictive. I struggled pretty hard getting off of them.

I now use valerian, tryptophan, melatonin, magnesium and Celestial seasonings Sleepy Time tea. Sleep hygiene is huge as well.

I think there are so many natural solutions that you may not need to result to sleeping pills.

Passionflower is another option.

Julymorning I'm with you. I absolutely have to have white noise to sleep. But I've been like this since my college days.

And you are right about the cortisol issues and sleep.

put garlic clove under pillow and see magic